Recuperative type heat exchangers are heat exchangers in which fluids exchange heat on either side of a thermally conductive dividing wall. Conventional recuperative type heat exchangers are often based on aluminum or copper and are generally large in size and heavy. Such heat exchangers lack modularity, scalabability, and also generally fail to provide high effectiveness (e.g., typically an effectiveness (ε)<90%).
For certain applications, heat exchangers are needed that provide high effectiveness, scalability, as well as being compact and lightweight. For example, compact crycoolers are needed for space exploration.